State of Wisconsin, Plaintiff-Respondent, v. Ivan C. Mitchell, Defendant-Appellant., 2006 WI App 56

Summary

Defendant was found guilty of killing and robbing the victim in the parking lot of a grocery store. Money and drugs were taken from the victim after he was shot multiple times. A female passenger in the victim's car was shot in the face but survived. The passenger explained to police that the victim was meeting defendant to collect on a large debt defendant owed for prior drug deals. Defendant argued that he was denied the effective assistance of trial counsel because counsel failed to prevent the defense's most crucial witness from being impeached by irrelevant and prejudicial evidence. The appellate court ruled that counsel's assessment that it would not serve defendant well to interrupt the witness's cross-examination was reasonable and did not reflect deficient performance. Defendant's defense counsel indicated that he did not object during the witness's cross-examination because he felt her testimony was going well and she was handling the cross-examination. Also, any deficient ...